STATE lIOkTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 21 



Small Fruits he find-; of no value except for home consumption — tlie cost of pick- 

 ing and marketing being equal to the price received for them. He manufactures his 

 surplus grai)es into wine, Init douhts if uine made by a nun-profeb>ional wine-maker 

 will Hnd a market ; and supposes he will have to use this also for " home consumption." 



He finds " California Wine" sells best, though he thinks his one year old wine su- 

 perior to samples he has tasted which were imported directly from California. 



Mr. Aldrich has a variety of sweet .\pples of very good quality, fine size, that hang 

 well to the tree and he tiiinks will prove a good keeper. 



The cions of this variety were obtained from Williamson Durley, Esq. 



A. E. Richmond, of Geneseo, correspondent for Henry County, 

 sends the following statement of fruit growing in that county. 



" Fruit has been plenty this year. 



Strazvl'frrifs were abundant, and of fine quality. 



Raspberries, Currants, and Blarkberries produced well wherever found, though a less 

 area is planted to either of these than to strawberries. 



Cherries. — Early Richmond and Belle Magnfique bore well. 



Pears. — Flemish Beauty and Bartlett were fine, as in fact were all others, though 

 these are the principal varieties planted — there being, probably, more Bartlelts than of 

 all other sorts. 



Grapes. — Concord and Hartford can be grown here almost as easily and as surely 

 as com. 



Peaches. — Trees bore in various parts of the county — though there are few planted. 



Apples. — We have trees of Ben Davis, Willow, Duchess of Oldenburg, planted on 

 White Oak barrens four years since — being then two years old from the graft — which 

 bore this year a peck of fruit each. 



Williamson Durley writes as follows : 



" Little Putnam has produced the largest crop of apples the present year that has 

 ever been produced in any one year in the county. 



The county is divided by the Illinois river, the principal part lying on the east side 

 of the river. 



The first orchards were planted about forty-two years ago, were mostly seedlings, 

 of which many of the trees are vigorou^> and healthy and continue to produce large crops 

 of fruit ; but the fruit is of little value except for feeding to stock or making cider. 



There are many very fine orchards in the county, containing most of the choice 

 varieties of apples now cultivated in Illinois. 



The best locations are those protected by timber, on elevated ground sloping to the 

 north and west, and near the river or lakes, and on sandy loam with clay sub-soil. 



Our orchards that are cultivated in corn, potatoes, and crops that are plowed or 

 hoed, for the first ten years after being planted do the best, and tiieu they are sowed to 

 clover not to lie more than three or four years before being plowed again. 



The choice varieties of Apples have been sold in our market in large quantities, the 

 past /all for twenty-five cents per bushel ; and even at that price no crop produced on 

 the land would pay as well as our fruit crop. 



The only nursery in the county was owned by the late I. W. Stewart, and is now 

 carried on by his family. 



Our people are still imposed on by tree peddlers. I met a man this fall with a 

 handful of trees and asked where he got them ; he said they came from an Ohio nur- 

 sery and cost thirteen dollars ; all of which, and of better quality, could have been 

 bought at one of our home nurseries for less than half the money. 



APPLES. 



The varieties of apples cultivated in this county, that are the best and most profit- 

 able, are of 



Su.MMER. — Early Harvest for family use only. 



